Ramée Abbey

The abbeys of the Cistercian Order, which branched from the Benedictines in the 12th century, have always owned a "farm" aiming to put into practice and live the true essence of the Rule of Saint Benedict; "ORA ET LABORA": pray and work (especially with your hands). Charlemagne had also given the order, in his "Capitulare de Villis" to cultivate a large quantity of different plants in all imperial "villae". The first two on the list were the lily and the rose (probably Rosa gallica), and it ended with different fruit species. After Charlemagne died, all these recommendations were unfortunately forgotten by everyone but the monks. In their huge gardens, they continued to collect the species and varieties that had always been grown and added new ones they had been given or had discovered themselves in nature. Some varieties were named after the abbeys that found them: the Val Dieu pippin for example. (A. Leroy - Dictionnaire de Pomologie) This is what we are attempting to do here at the La Ramée Abbey Farm.Our Fruiticum is planted at the same place the Cistercian monks grew their own. The location is excellent, gently sloping to the south, with a soil particularly favourable to the cultivation of cereals, beets and fruit trees. In the 19th century, Belgium abounded in orchards of enormous variety. Our country became famous all over the world for improving the range of pear varieties: about 1,100 new varieties were obtained by seedling (up to 200 in the district of Jodoigne alone). Each abbey also owned a small vineyard until the 19th century. Since 1950, the standardisation and rationalisation inherent in intensive commercial production have reduced and continue to drastically reduce the range of cultivated varieties. The Fruiticum aims to: gather some 350 old endangered varieties in order to safeguard them, incorporate newer varieties that can be grown profitably in private gardens in our humid temperate area, enhance the beauty of "tall standard" fruit tree orchards (unfortunately endangered) and arouse interest in beautiful trained shapes (espaliers) for confined spaces, show the extraordinary range of shapes, colours, fragrances and flavours of all these varieties, teach willing private garden owners the art of good planting, pruning, training, grafting and looking after fruit trees by the most natural means, observe the behaviour of some varieties grown under unusual conditions, especially trained trees. The Fruiticum was inaugurated with planting on 25 November 2000 (St. Catherine’s Day!) Almost all the fruit species are present: pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, big fruit brambles (Rubus), blueberries and even vines. It is made up of an international collection of varieties from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Russia, Canada, the USA, Japan,... It is already five years ago... Most of the varieties grown in espalier form are already producing fruit. Some standard trees have also started bearing fruit. Pear and apple rootstocks were planted in order to graft other varieties. The collection is expanding every year. An osier plantation was also created to provide straps for training branches. It consists of wicker varieties from Lesdain (the largest nursery in Wallonia) and the French National School of basketry and willow cultivation in Fayt-Billot. Artisanal jams are made from the berries of the Fruiticum. In the future: This noble task must be carried on in order to1) increase biodiversity in family orchards;2) find and save many other good old varieties;3) participate in the education of amateurs using didactic cards, website, and "intramural" courses.

The abbeys of the Cistercian Order, which branched from the Benedictines in the 12th century, have always owned a "farm" aiming to put into practice and live the true essence of the Rule of Saint Benedict; "ORA ET LABORA": pray and work (especially with your hands). Charlemagne had also given the order, in his "Capitulare de Villis" to cultivate a large quantity of different plants in all imperial "villae". The first two on the list were the lily and the rose (probably Rosa gallica), and it ended with different fruit species. After Charlemagne died, all these recommendations were unfortunately forgotten by everyone but the monks. In their huge gardens, they continued to collect the species and varieties that had always been grown and added new ones they had been given or had discovered themselves in nature. Some varieties were named after the abbeys that found them: the Val Dieu pippin for example. (A. Leroy - Dictionnaire de Pomologie) This is what we are attempting to do here at the La Ramée Abbey Farm.Our Fruiticum is planted at the same place the Cistercian monks grew their own. The location is excellent, gently sloping to the south, with a soil particularly favourable to the cultivation of cereals, beets and fruit trees. In the 19th century, Belgium abounded in orchards of enormous variety. Our country became famous all over the world for improving the range of pear varieties: about 1,100 new varieties were obtained by seedling (up to 200 in the district of Jodoigne alone). Each abbey also owned a small vineyard until the 19th century. Since 1950, the standardisation and rationalisation inherent in intensive commercial production have reduced and continue to drastically reduce the range of cultivated varieties. The Fruiticum aims to: gather some 350 old endangered varieties in order to safeguard them, incorporate newer varieties that can be grown profitably in private gardens in our humid temperate area, enhance the beauty of "tall standard" fruit tree orchards (unfortunately endangered) and arouse interest in beautiful trained shapes (espaliers) for confined spaces, show the extraordinary range of shapes, colours, fragrances and flavours of all these varieties, teach willing private garden owners the art of good planting, pruning, training, grafting and looking after fruit trees by the most natural means, observe the behaviour of some varieties grown under unusual conditions, especially trained trees. The Fruiticum was inaugurated with planting on 25 November 2000 (St. Catherine’s Day!) Almost all the fruit species are present: pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, big fruit brambles (Rubus), blueberries and even vines. It is made up of an international collection of varieties from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Russia, Canada, the USA, Japan,... It is already five years ago... Most of the varieties grown in espalier form are already producing fruit. Some standard trees have also started bearing fruit. Pear and apple rootstocks were planted in order to graft other varieties. The collection is expanding every year. An osier plantation was also created to provide straps for training branches. It consists of wicker varieties from Lesdain (the largest nursery in Wallonia) and the French National School of basketry and willow cultivation in Fayt-Billot. Artisanal jams are made from the berries of the Fruiticum. In the future: This noble task must be carried on in order to1) increase biodiversity in family orchards;2) find and save many other good old varieties;3) participate in the education of amateurs using didactic cards, website, and "intramural" courses.